Alert archive / California / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Sacramento, CA

September 18, 1989San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, California

NWS Sacramento, CA issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 1989, 5:34 PM PDT for San Joaquin County, Stanislaus County, California. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Sep 18, 1989, 5:34 PM PDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired: Sep 18, 1989, 6:30 PM PDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Sacramento, CA
Area: Whole counties

Counties San Joaquin County, CA, Stanislaus County, CA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Oakland, CA (KOAK), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 94 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1128 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 18, 11:41 AM PDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SACRAMENTO, CA
1135 AM PDT MON SEP 18 1989

...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINSHOWERS MOVING INTO SIERRA
   NEVADA FOOTHILLS...
...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINSHOWERS IN SACRAMENTO AREA...

AT 1125 AM PDT...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SACRAMENTO
DETECTED ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINSHOWERS ALONG THE
SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS FROM AUBURN TO ABOUT SONORA.

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINSHOWERS WERE ALSO SEEN IN THE
SACRAMENTO AREA.  THE STRONGEST STORMS HERE WERE LOCATED NEAR RANCHO
CORDOVA AND GALT.

THE STORMS WERE PART OF A SOLID AREA OF RAINSHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSHOWERS...80 MILES WIDE...THAT EXTENDED FROM ABOUT MOUNT LASSEN
TO SALINAS.  THE AREA WAS SLOWLY MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 10 MILES
AN HOUR.
A MARTINI

Local storm report, Sep 18, 11:49 AM PDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CA
1145 PM PST MON SEP 18 1989

TIME            EVENT

930 AM          SEVERAL REPORTS OF A FUNNEL CLOUDS OVER THE SALT FLATS
                AREA OF FREMONT-NEWARK.

1010 AM        SUN MICROSYSTEMS IN MILPITAS REPORTS AN AUTO HAD BEEN
                LIFTED 5 FEET OFF THE GROUND AND MOVED 4 FEET. A SIGN
                WAS ALSO VIOLENTLY BLOWN OFF.

FELSCH
PUBLIC SERVICE METEOROLOGIST

Special weather statement, Sep 18, 2:30 PM PDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA
2.30 PM PDT MON SEP 18 1989

   ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTH BAY REGION THIS AFTERNOON...

AT 2:00 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN BAY REGION AND
SPREADING SOUTHWARD AT 15 MPH. A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED
AT NAPA AIRPORT AS WELL AS LIGHTING STRIKES NEAR SAN RAFAEL. THESE STORMS
WILL BE SPREADING OVER THE BAY AREA WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR WITH POSSIBLE HEAVY
RAIN...GUSTY WINDS... AND SMALL HAIL.

IF YOU ARE NEAR A THUNDERSTORM...YOU SHOULD STAY INDOORS...AWAY FROM METAL
FIXTURES. AVOID HIGH TERRAIN...ESPECIALLY MOUNTAIN PEAKS. DO NOT BE THE
HIGHEST OBJECT IN THE AREA.

IN ADDITION...MOTORISTS TRAVELING NEAR THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD USE EXTRA
CAUTION...REDUCE SPEED IN AREAS OF POOR VISIBLITY DUE TO HEAVY RAIN AND SLICK
ROADS.

FELSCH

Special weather statement, Sep 18, 3:23 PM PDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATTIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STOCKTON CA
320 PM PDT MON SEP 18 1989

    ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EXTENDED UNTIL 430 PM TODAY...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED AT 2PM PDT TODAY FOR PERSONS
IN SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 430 PM PDT TODAY.

AT 230 PM PDT SACRAMENTO RADAR REPORTED ANOTHER GROUP OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PORT CHICAGO AND MARTINEZ AREA AND MOVING TO THE
EAST. PORTION OF THESE STORMS MAY MOVE OVER SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY LATER
THIS AFTERNOON. THE STORMS ARE MOVING AT 15 TO 20 MILES PER HOUR.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND DO OCCAISONALLY PRODUCE A
TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND STRONG
GUSTYd WINDS MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.

CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO OR T.V. STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES

MAKER

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in California, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes in 1989

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.